Power takes vital win
Australia’s Will Power has scored a vital victory for his IndyCar title assault by holding off Alex Palou in Portland.
The Aussie Team Penske star took a comfortable 9s win over Palou to secure a third win of 2024 and 44th of his career.
The triumph sees Power shoot from fourth to second in the standings as he sits 54 points behind series leader Palou.
A P7 finish from 14th for Kiwi Scott McLaughlin also allowed the Penske driver to rise from fifth to fourth.
Power dominated the race, leading 101 of the 110 laps at Portland, while it was a mostly green affair with just one caution for a first-lap incident between Scott Dixon, Romain Grosjean and Pietro Fittipaldi.
The “determined” Power was thrilled to be back in victory lane after the frustration of Gateway.
“Very rewarding,” Power said.
“I came here determined, so did the whole team.
“We wanted to get qualifying right and then execute in the race.
“It’s not a last-ditch effort, but really if Palou finished ahead of us today, it was going to be very difficult.
“We’re going to keep fighting ahead here. A couple of bad races before this, but let’s see if we can get a championship.”
The success gives Power belief he can make further ground on the ovals to come with one of his 10 oval wins coming at Milwaukee in 2014.
“We’ve been very, very good on ovals – very solid,” Power said.
“Obviously, they’re two ovals that we haven’t raced at in a long time, so it’s anyone’s game. I hope we get it right.
“We’ll do our best and take the fight to Alex.”
IndyCar returns this weekend with a doubleheader in Milwaukee.
Photo by Phillip Abbott / LAT Images
IndyCar Portland results
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